End matching device for rolling mill packs



' Dec. 29, 1936.

T. w. ALLswoRTH 2,065,8810

E ND MATCHNG DEVICE. FOR ROLLING MILL PACKSv v Filed Feb. 27, 19,55

K INVENTOR.

7ERRE/vcf M LLwo/PTH.

ATTORNEYS Patented Dec. 29, 1936 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE END MATCHING DEVICE FOR ROLLING lWILL PACKS Application February 27, 1935, Serial No. 8,575

10 Claims.

The recent use of mechanical feed tables for rolling mills has given rise to a problem of providing pack matching means operative in connection therewith. Thus in operating a threehigh mill, with mechanical feed and catcher tables, for example,it has been the practice to match the pack by hand at the start, and rematch it by hand at the end of any of the several passes where this appeared necessary. It will be understood that packs frequently become disarranged during the rolling. In some operations perforations were provided in the ends of the tables into which the roller could insert his tongs, which would then act as a matching stop. This required accuracy and skill, however, and was apt to jar the roller unpleasantly. All of these methods of hand rolling were inconvenient and time consuming, and did not accord well with otherwise full mechanical operation of the mills.

In connection with feed or catcher tables having conveyors for the sheets or packs, matching abutments or stops are not new. They are in tended to function by arresting the motion of the pack so that the inertia of the various parts thereof acts to align the parts against the stop. There are certain problems arising in the mechanical functioning and construction of stop and aligning means, the solution of which'constitutes a fundamental object of my invention. In the first place, a tilting stop, theVv angularity of which with respect to the table is substantially altered during retraction, 'is not advantageous. A stop should be 'provided which can be set at the correct angularity to the direction of motion of the pack, and which can bewithdrawn from blocking or matching position without substantial change of angularity, and under suicient power to insure its instant withdrawal. Thick, heavy pieces in a pack may be aligned against a rigid stop without substantial injury to their ends, but the lighter gauges of break downs and the pieces in packsafter rolling have a tendency to have their ends dented or deformed by the stop means making proper matching impossible and damaging the stock. Hence it is necessary to `have a4 resilient stop, i. e. one which will absorb the momentum of a pack sufficiently to prevent end damage to the pack components, but having sunicient resistance to permit proper matching.

The general objects of my invention will be clear` from the foregoing, and these and other objects of my invention which will be pointed out hereinafter or will be apparent to one skilled rangement of parts of which I shall now describe' a preferred embodiment. Reference is made to the drawing, wherein:

l lFigure 1 is a side elevation of a feeding and catching table equipped with my invention shown in one of its operative positions with respect to a mill. y

Fig. 2 is a plan View thereof with partscut away to show theV construction of underlying parts.

Fig. Sis a sectional view of the means impartingresiliency to the stop. v I

Essentially in my invention I provide a stop which is movable in a substantially normal direction to the planeof the table, power Ymeans to move thestop, supporting means for 'controlling movement of thestop parallel with thev table, which means are resilient, and I arrange the resilient supporting means in connection with the stop in such a way that vertical movements of the latter do not affect the action of the former.

In Figure ,1, I have shown diagrammatically the large upper and lower rolls I and 2, and the small center roll 3 of a three-high mill. To the left of the mill I have shown a mechanical table having a frame 4, and a conveyor 5. The details.of the construction of the table are not necessary to an understanding of my invention nor do they forma part thereof. It will be understood that the table inthe position shown is adapted to feed apack 6 into the lowerrbite of the rolls, i. e. between rolls 3 and 2;, and that the table is mechanically tiltable into a position to receive a pack being returned through the upper bite of the rolls. The conveyor on the table is reversible to enable it both to receive and feed. The frame member 4 may carry, by means of suitable supports 1, a side guide `8 to aid in side matching the pack.

My end matching means comprises a stop 9, which in the particulary embodiment shown is integral withv or is fastened to a shaft I Il. This shaftenters a cylinder II through a perforated plug I2 in the end thereof. The shaft may conveniently be threaded as at I3, and nuts I4 and washer I5 may hold an abutment member I6 thereon. Between the abutment. and the plug there is a coiled spring I'I. If the'cylinder II has its axis substantially parallel with the plane of the table, it will be seen that the stop 9 will be-resilient in the direction of motion of the pack 6. g n It is necessary to provide for motion vof-the stop substantially normal to the plane of the table. To this end I journal a shaft I8 in the frame member 4, and iix bell cranks I9 thereon, one for each of the stop devices provided. For the particular table illustrated, there are two stops. The ends of the shaft members Ill are formed into slotted yokes 20, and the crank arms I9 carry pins 2| which engage in the slots in these yokes. It will be clear that the angular position of the crank arms I9 will determine the height of the stops 9 above the table top. In order that the stops 9 may be moved downwardly by rotation of the shaft I8, the cylinders II are pivotally mounted by means ofrpins 22 in ears 23 on the table frame. Thus the cylinders may rock slightly as the stops are pulled down.

To' move the stops, I have fixed another crank arm 24 to the shaft I8 and have connected this crank arm to the piston rod 25 of a pressure cylinder 26 mounted on the frame of the table. The cylinder 26 may likewise be trunnioned to the frame; but it is more convenient to mount it rigidly thereon and to slot the crank arm 24 as shown. The cylinder 26 may be an air or other fluid lpressure cylinder, and connections are preferably made to it to move the piston positively in both directions, although the piston may, if desired, be moved in one direction b-y resilient means, the fluid pressure acting to overcome these resilient means when the piston is moved in the other direction. Fluid under pressure is admitted or exhausted from the cylinder by an ordinary standard valve (not shown) which may either be controlled by an operator or may be madeV automatic in accordance with the movements of the table.

It will be clear that while the height of the stops 9 is controlled by the cylinder 26, yet irrespective of their height the stops are always resilient in thefdirection of movement of the pack 6 along the table. In operation, the action of the Vconveyor on the table is to bring the pack forcibly against the stops. The stops give, because of their resilient mounting, so as to avoid damage to the ends of the pieces in the pack; but they have suicient resistance to cause longitudinal alignment of the pack. When the pack has been aligned, the stops are withdrawn though-the action of the cylinder 26, and the conveyor carries the pack into the bite of the rolls. Normally there will be located a similar table with similar stop mechanisms on the other side of the mill, soy that a pack may be given a plurality of passes backwardly and forwardly through the mill.

I have shown the stops as individual members in the drawing. It will be understood as within the scope of -my invention to` provide a single stop member extending a substantial distance across the table Vand connected to one or a plurality of the resilient ,mechanisms and to one or a plurality ofthe depressing mechanisms. It will also be understood as within the scope of my invention to interconnect several stops, or the plungers of their respective resilient mechanisms, by a rigid bar so as to avoid permanent misalign-ment of-stopsl if the material coming from the furnace is badly disarranged.

Modications may be made in my invention without departing from the spirit thereof.

Having thus4 described my invention, what I claim asy new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, isz- 1. In pack aligning means, means for mo-ving a pack, stop means for arresting motion of said pack by said moving means, means providing for Y resilient motion of said stop means in a direction substantially parallel with said pack moving means, and means for moving said stop means in a direction substantially transverse to said pack moving means.

2. In a pack feeding and catching means, a conveyor, a stop adapted to arrest the motion of stock on said conveyor, means for raising and lowering said stop without substantially changing the angularity thereof to said conveyor, and means providing for resilient motion of said stop means substantially in the line of` said conveyor irrespective of the height of said stop means.

3. In a device of the character described, a frame, a conveyor, a stop adapted to arrest the motion of stock on said conveyor, a shaft` connected tosaid stop and a resilient connection between said shaft and said frame, a slotted yoke in said shaft, and means engaging in the slot in said yoke for determining the height of said stop.

4'. In a device of the character described, a frame, a conveyor, a stop adapted to arrest the motion of stock on said conveyor, means for making the stop resilient in the direction of movement of work pieces over saidrconveyor, comprising a resilient connection between said frame and said stop, and means for raising and lowering said stop without substantially changing the angularity thereof to said conveyor.

5. In a device of the character described, a frame, a conveyor, a stop adapted to arrest the motion of stock on said conveyor, means for making the stop resilient in the direction of movement of work pieces over said conveyor, comprising a resilient connection between said frame and said stop, and means for raising and lowering said stop without substantially changing the angularity thereof to said conveyor, said resilient connection being movable with said stop.

6. In a device of the character described, a frame, a conveyor, a cylinder pivoted to said frame, a shaft passing into said'cylinder, a resilient connection between said shaft and said cylinder, a stop on the end of said shaft adapted to arrest the motion of stock on said conveyor and means for moving said stop in a direction substantially normal to the plane of said conveyor, whereby to cause said cylinder to pivot on said frame.

7. In a ldevice of the character described, a frame, a conveyor, a cylinder pivoted toVV said frame and having a perforated plug, a shaftV passing through said plug and bearing an abutment at one end, a compression spring located between said plug and said abutment, a stop on the other end of said shaft adapted to arrest the motion of stock on said conveyor, a slotted yoke in said shaft and means engaging in the slot in said yoke to move said stop in a direction substantially normal to the plane of said conveyor,

8. In a device of the character described, a frame, a conveyor, a cylinder pivoted to said frame and having a perforated plug, a shaft passing through said plug and bearing an abutment at one end, a compression spring located between said plug and said abutment, a stop on the other end of Vsaid shaft adapted `to arrest the motion of stock on said conveyor, a slotted yoke in said shaft and means engaging in vthe slot in said yoke to move said stop in a direction substantially normal to the plane of said conveyor, said last mentioned( means comprising a pivoted crank arm, and a pin on said crank arm engaging in said slot.

9. In a device of the character described, a frame, a conveyor, a cylinder pivoted to said frame and having a perforated plug, a shaft passing through said plug and bearing an abutment at one end, a compression spring located between said plug and said abutment, a stop on the other end of said shaft adapted to arrest the motion of stock on said conveyor, a slotted yoke in said shaft and means engaging in the slot in said yoke to move said stop in a direction substantially normal toI the plane of said conveyor, said last mentioned means comprising a pivoted crank arm, a pin on said crank arm engaging in said slot, a second crank arm operatively connected with said rst crank arm, and

a fluid pressure cylinder connected with said first crank arm.

10. In a device of the character described, a frame, a conveyor, a stop adapted to arrest the motion of stock on said conveyor, resilient means connecting said stop to said frame and pivoted to said frame, and means for moving said stop in a direction substantially normal to movement of said stock on said conveyor, said last mentioned means operating to swing said stop about the pivoted point of said resilient connecting means whereby as said stop moves in a direction substantially normal to the plane of said conveyor it also slightly changes its angularity with respect thereto.

TERRENCE W. ALLSWORTH. 

